29 12, 2016

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

By |December 29th, 2016|Categories: Attractions & Sights, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

"Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration." - UNESCO There are thousands of world heritage sites. I've been to 30 of them: Salzburg Austria Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg A turtle in Belize Belize Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System Ramses Temple at Abu Simbel Egypt Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis Historic Cairo Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to

25 06, 2016

Souvenir Saturday: Siena Palio Contrade Banner

By |June 25th, 2016|Categories: Events, Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

The Palio is a 90 second horse race in Siena, Italy that takes place twice a year in the heart of the city at Piazza del Campo. It is a race for honor and prestige for the winer representing one of the 17 Contrade (districts) within the city. Of the 17 Contrade, only 10 are randomly chosen to participate in the race. They then go on to get randomly assigned a horse, and then must find a jockey to represent them. There are very few rules to the Palio, its sort of a "anything goes" and rivalry between the different

8 03, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: Its Smaller on the Outside

By |March 8th, 2014|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

I was on my last afternoon in Ireland, and had a lot of euro coins left over. Knowing that my bank won't exchange coins, was buying random souvenirs as gifts. One of the last items I bought was a small county flag of Dublin, Ireland. I had seen them around while traveling and they reminded me of the flags of the different contrade of Siena. But when I returned home and open the package, I found that this 7 euro flag, was not a small flag.  But it was actually the size of a traditional flag (about the size of a